Tone Deaf
by 2queens1prince
Summary: What if the noise Henry heard was Elizabeth singing and the reason he loves her singing is because they wouldn't have met otherwise. A Tumblr prompt from Spamez.


AN: This is for Spamez. I hope you like it.

Henry McCord stepped from the bathroom and crossed the hall to his dorm room. Being a Resident Advisor had a few advantages, the first being that the bathroom was just across the hall and he didn't have to walk a mile. He also got a bigger room, which was free for the semester and his own microwave and mini fridge in his room. The downside was that he got stuck as building monitor over spring break. There were only a handful of students on campus, but an RA stayed in each building just in case anyone should need anything.

It was getting late and Henry decided to get ready for bed. He settled himself and just started to drift off when he heard a noise. He froze and listened closely. Seconds ticked by and he heard nothing. Henry relaxed and shifted his blankets to make himself more comfortable and there it was again.

Henry tried placing the sound. Angry cat perhaps? He sighed. Knowing his luck, Henry thought that if somehow a cat did get stuck inside the building, he'd likely be cleaning up various cat messes most of the next day. That thought alone was enough to pull him from the comfort of his bed. He quickly donned a tee-shirt and shorts, and headed out to investigate.

He only heard it a couple more times, but was at least able to identify the general area. After checking the laundry room and vending machine area, he rounded the corner to the student lounge and was halted in his tracks. The largest table was covered in stacks of paper. A blonde that Henry couldn't remember ever seeing before was dancing while shifting the papers from one spot to another. Her Walkman was laying on the table, headphones attached securely to her head, and she was oblivious to him standing there.

Forgetting about his search for the cat, Henry watched her for a couple seconds and was just about to get her attention and introduce himself when she stopped, belting out "Oh, shot through the heart and you're to blame. Darlin' you give love a bad name."

Henry's mouth fell open in stunned silence. That had to be the worst singing he'd ever heard. His cat search had come to an abrupt conclusion, and while he was happy about that, the blonde had captivated him. She was still unaware of his presence. Henry knew he should either let her know he was there or go back to bed, but he couldn't bring himself to move. She was simply beautiful.

The next chorus came and she sang along, so very off key, but this time Henry found it oddly endearing. He wasn't sure what it was, but he wanted to know more about this girl. The song must have ended because she leaned over and pushed the stop button. That shook Henry from his reverie. "Hi," he said, a little too loudly.

The girl whipped around to see the source of the sound. "Oh, hi!" Henry could tell he startled her but she covered it well.

She smiled. *I'm sorry I didn't realize anyone else was here." She pulled her headphones off a leaving her hair looking matted in the spot they occupied. She sensed it and tried to fluff it a bit, to no avail. Shrugging her shoulder, she stepped forward and extended her hand. "I'm Elizabeth Adams."

Henry took her hand and shook it. "Henry McCord. It's nice to meet you."

"You're the RA that's stuck here over break. I saw that posted somewhere." Henry nodded, suddenly overwhelmed by her voice. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly. It wasn't high pitched and giggly like so many girls that approached him, nor was it edgy and condescending like a few others he'd come across. Elizabeth's voice, he smiled as her name floated through his thoughts, was low and melodic, almost sultry. At least, he was sure it would be under the right circumstances, and he blushed at the direction his thoughts were suddenly going. He blinked quickly and she gave him an odd look.

"Yes. I was getting ready for bed and heard a noise. I was just coming to see what it was." He smiled, hoping that he wasn't coming across as creepy or weird.

A frown suddenly crossed her face and she shifted her gaze from Henry to the Walkman on the table. She blushed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked genuinely.

"My singing. I can't sing." Elizabeth shook her head, very much embarrassed.

"I think your voice is fascinating," Henry said honestly.

The look he gave her caused Elizabeth to smile. "My brother says I'm tone deaf and sound like a cat that's being attacked."

Henry laughed out loud. "Brothers say things like that. I have two sisters. It's quite possible that I have said similar things just to rile them up." Elizabeth grinned shyly. "So, it looks like you are in the middle of some serious work. What are you doing?" Henry gestured to Elizabeth's piles.

She stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the table. "It's just something dumb I do. It's nothing." She dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

Henry peered over her shoulder saw piles of what were mostly certainly impeccably written lecture notes. "Do you save all of your notes from your classes?" he asked, a hint of glee in his voice.

Elizabeth flushed bright red and her defenses went up. "I save them to refer back to and there's no sense in doing research twice." Her tone had an edge and she had obviously been called out on this before. Henry inwardly cringed. People made fun of others for some really dumb reasons. He thought about telling her that he understood, but he decided that he could show her better.

"Come with me. I want to show you something." Elizabeth just looked at him blankly. "Really, come on." Henry turned and took off around the corner with Elizabeth following behind at a slower pace. He opened his room door and had his closet door open, by the time the Elizabeth made it to his doorway. "See!" Henry said, making a wide arc with his arm pointing to the open closet.

She stepped inside and looked in the closet. A wide smile covered her face as she took in the stack of five clear file boxes. Henry pulled the top box down and popped the lid off revealing neatly labeled file folders with class names. "I have one for each year. Each class has it's own folder with all of my notes, papers and tests in chronological order. You never want to do research twice" he said, grinning at her, very proud of his handiwork.

Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth covering her laugh. "That's impressive!" she said, before she started giggling. "You know, I've never met anyone else who saves notes like I, well like we, do."

"We're a rare breed, I guess." Henry met her gaze, wondering what he was going to do now that Elizabeth was standing in the middle of his room.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Well I guess I had better go and finish sorting." She smiled and turned to go.

"I really like Bon Jovi, so you could play more of them." He smiled.

"They're one of my favorites too." She gestured awkwardly toward the hallway. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess so," Henry's words fell on an exhale and he felt the opportunity slipping away. Elizabeth started down the hall and made it a few doors down when Henry stepped out. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked.

Elizabeth spun around to face Henry. "Uh, tomorrow night? Why?"

"I'd like to take you to dinner. That is, if you are free and would like to go."

"I think I would that. Does 5 o'clock work?" Elizabeth smiled and looked to Henry for confirmation.

He nodded. "We can meet in the lounge tomorrow night at 5." He smiled and waved, stepping back into his room.

He was back in bed and about five minutes later he heard her singing. Each off key note she sang became a little sweeter and he fell asleep to a Bon Jovi lullaby, dreaming of a dinner with the most spectacular person he'd ever met.


End file.
